


Ilaen

by WowSoAnonymous



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Character(s), Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alien Sex, Alien/Human Relationships, Aliens, Dorks in Love, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Idiots in Love, Interspecies Relationship(s), Love at First Sight, M/M, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, Other, Slow Burn, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-30 00:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20805755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WowSoAnonymous/pseuds/WowSoAnonymous
Summary: Joseph "Joss" Ender was never really interested in aliens until one entered the shop he worked at.Shit, he thought as the blue skinned, over 2 metres tall alien finally turned their purple eyes in his direction. It wasn't like Joss had never seen an Ilaenite before. It would be difficult after 15 years of Ilaenan occupation of Earth. Joss grew up seeing them on the news, hearing countless political disputes in media, reading true and false "fun facts" about them, joking about them with friends and strangers on the Internet.But with an alien right before him it's difficult not to get mortified. Little did he know that the alien was looking at him feeling same panic.





	Ilaen

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cultural Collision](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8148152) by [Udunie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Udunie/pseuds/Udunie). 

> So... I have never written anything for fun before... Especially not in English, my second language... But here we are, I guess. Enjoy, random individual. I don't know if I'll ever continue writing, unless someone happens to like it and ask for more *wink*  
If you don't like it and want to tell me everything that's wrong with it, no hard feelings. Just be aware that I am not an aspiring writer in the first place, I wrote it for fun. Expect grammar mistakes and shit. I was inspired by multiple original works.

Joseph "Joss" Ender was never really interested in aliens until one entered the shop he worked at.

Such encounter was most unexpected at 18.37 on Wendesday, just 23 minutes before closing the shop, selling second hand instruments and old cd's, that Joss worked at to earn a living for himself and his turtle. _Where the hell is Hubert now that he's most needed?_ He had a really bad habit of leaving his employee alone behind the counter. Joss doesn't own the shop and yet it feels like it sometimes.

_Shit_, he thought as the blue skinned, over 2 metres tall alien finally turned their purple eyes in his direction. It wasn't like Joss had never seen an Ilaenite before. It would be difficult after 15 years of Ilaenan occupation of Earth. Joss grew up seeing them on the news, hearing countless political disputes in media, reading true and false "fun facts" about them, joking about them with friends and strangers on the Internet.

The surreal being few meters away didn't turn away their gaze after an expected amount of time. Joss realized that he should politely ask if they needed help, or maybe were lost. Why would an alien come in here otherwise? 

"Um, welcome to Hubert's!" He awkwardly exclaimed, but at least he did say something instead of remaining in initial shock. _Geez I really do hope they speak English._ "Can I help you...?" For a second there Joss panicked, when there was none immediate response. He was never interested in learning any of the Ilaenan languages, so full of these goddamn vowels. Thank you very much, Mandarin and French should suffice, he'd say to his high school teacher encouraging him to learn Iludian.

"O-oh, right, indeed, could you please recommend me some music? Popular now. I mean." Said the alien hurriedly in perfect English. 

If Joss had to guess by voice alone, he would say that the alien is male, but he knew better than that. Ilaenye are all intersex. Guessing the gender won't lead you anywhere unless you are an awfully nosy clairvoyant. What's interesting, is that Ilaenye actually have prefered pronouns when speaking Earthian languages but use them rarely, privately. At least that's one of the "fun facts" Joss read on the oh so trust inducing Internet. In official situations, like a conference, Ilaenye use neutral pronouns they/their/them and it's safer to stick with that unless someone corrects you. 

Joss took a deep breath after registering what the extraordinary customer asked for. He can wonder why he found himself in such predicament later, now he has a job to do and money to earn. His turtle won't feed itself. 

"So, you are looking for a cd with pop music...? Sorry, we only have cd's, second hand in fact. I doubt you'll find anything fresh here." 

"... Fresh?" answered Ilaenite, unsure of the meaning. 

"I mean, up to date. Popular, now. But, if you're interested, I can hook you up with some classics. Pop music that is not popular now." Joss wasn't sure how much the alien understood from what he said, they could be confused by his use of language, or the meaning of 'pop music' or maybe he was speaking too fast. To his suprise, Ilaenite smiled widely with those pale blue lips closely resembling human ones, their not so human eyes locked on Joss. 

"Yes, please do." They said patiently with what seemed to be genuine curiosity. 

Joss couldn't help but be mesmerized by alien's warm, approachable expression. The smile seemed as if it was caused by gladness of being understood, radiating honest friendliness. 

And that's how Joss introduced the them to Elvis Presley, Elton John, Queen, Madonna and Whitney Houston, which wasn't easy considering that they didn't have any pop culture context. The artists were described in a relatively basic way but it would be clear to any bystander that Joss was in his element when he actually got to talk about music. It took an hour. Fortunately, the alien seemed to be curious enough about the subject and maybe even captivated by the human's enthusiasm. 

_________

Ilaenite ended up buying an album from Queen and Whitney Houston, which were curiously inspected with their violet eyes and lissome hands. Pink pupils focused on English writing on the CD packaging and long fingers brushing the surface. Joss couldn't help but stare at them with similar curiosity.

Joseph wasn't a short man, and yet his 178 cm of height wasn't enough for his head to reach Ilaenite's neck. They weren't muscular nor "big" in body built though, quite contrary in fact, they were both tall and slender. _They really do look a bit like slenderman huh_, Joss couldn't help but note in his thoughts. 

They wore simple uniform with Ilaenan Embassy logo, high boots and tight gloves. Ilaenye seem to prefer to cover their skin, only ever revealing their heads. The Ilaenite in front of him had beautiful icy blue skin, featuring light dots on their cheeks and two lines painting their face on both sides, going from chin to forehead and further on the back of their head, which was bald since Ilaenye seem to be simply hairless and furless by nature. Joss wondered how smooth their skin must be. Maybe it would feel like a dolphin skin? Is it soft or rather firm? When Ilaenite looked up (or rather down...) from the Queen album Joss felt a bit embarassed about thinking of touching them. Their eyeballs were purple and **alive**. The alien was **real**. He's not looking at a mannequin. A bit of panic went through him because _what if they can somehow read my thoughts, oh my god._

"I am really grateful for your assistance. Tell me, what is your name?" Ilaenite asked gently, radiating honest gratitude and friendliness, but human didn't feel much less intimidated by them. 

"Ah, yes, my name is Joseph Ender... Did I, like, do something wrong?" Joss responded confused why they needed his name. Perhaps, since the alien is already very unusual for coming to a music shop, they were, in fact, trying to be friendly. It's not like Joss was in trouble for something. Still, he felt what everyone feels when people in authority, for instance police, ask their name. Guilty. For no reason. Like an idiot. 

"No, not at all. Joseph... This kind of name is quite popular among you, huh... I-I don't mean anything bad, I've just never... Uh, whatever. Anyways" Ilaenite got lost in his line of thought for a moment, was stuttering and talking fast. "It's nice to meet you, Joseph Ender. My name is Uleo Ynay and I hope we can meet again." With that Uleo smiled and left the shop, clutching the pop music albums to his chest.

_________

The rest of the day Joss spent buying some groceries, making quick dinner, feeding Hubert the turtle and thinking about what happened at work. He really has to talk about it with Hubert the shop owner. Joss texted him on his way home so he will hopefully show up tomorrow. 

It was weird. Simply weird. Sure, the shop was on the way from the train station to Ilaenan Embassy but Ilaenye on Earth are simply not here to personally visit small businesses.

Ilaenye are distant. 

They claim to be assisting humans as more advanced civilization in the universe but they do not engage with civilians and nobody knows if they are being honest. Officially, Ilaen and Earth Union states that the goal of occupation is not to exploit mankind but to teach the ways of older intelligent species and seek companionship. 

It cannot be denied that since the Ilaenye answered mankind's signals, technology, medicine, environment have improved, not even mentioning the gained knowledge about the universe and interstellar travel. Still, the independence of Earth is being questioned under the control of IE, Ilaenan Embassy. 

Joss was born on 5th May in year 2089, just 5 years before mankind engaged in first contact with other intelligent species. He had dark brown eyes like his dad's and messy black hair like his mom's. An ordinary human child, half caucasian, half asian, as many people are. It could be said that he grew up in difficult times but things on Earth are never easy. Whatever happens, children will still be children. Tense geopolitics fortunately didn't stop Joss from playing house, drawing, crafting, telling incomprehensible stories, learning guitar, learning the piano, learning about the world he was currently inhabiting. Curiosity is something that connects children with adults and, apparently, one civilization with the other. Curiosity is why we stared longingly at the sky above, marveling at the mysterious stars. 

And now that the stars have answered, we can do it without feeling alone. 

Joss went to sleep wondering if Uleo Ynay remembered his name. 


End file.
